Reservoir with yieldable walls



J 6, 1970 w. T. M. JANSEN 3,487,599

RESERVOIR WITH YIELDABLE WALLS Original Filed June 1, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. W.T. M. Jansen ATTORNEYS.

W. T. M. JANSEN RESERVOIR WITH YIELDABLE WALLs Original Filed June 1. 1966 Jim 6,, 19W) v i I... III.

INVENTOR. I WI. M. Jopser BY @AM ATTORNE'YS.

United States Patent 3,487,599 RESERVOIR WITH YIELDABLE WALLS Wilhelmus T. M. Jansen, Schalkhaar, Netherlands, as-

signor to Twellose Industrie Plastics N.V., Twello, Netherlands Continuation of application Ser. No. 554,605, June 1, 1966. This application July 12, 1968, Ser. No. 747,423 Claims priority, application Netherlands, Oct. 18, 1965, 6513472 Int. Cl. E02d 37/28; E04h 7/18 US. Cl. 52169 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An outdoor swimming pool is disclosed of the type constructed in an excavation in the ground. The retaining walls comprise preformed panels of rib-stiffened but otherwise non-reinforced synthetic plastic material which are cantilever supported in concrete footings and which yield with soil pressure. The side edges of the panels are flanged and resiliently sealed to allow adjacent panels to yield to a different small extent to different soil pressures exerted thereagainst.

This application is a continuation of my earlier-filed copending application, Ser. No. 554,605, filed June 1, 1966 for Reservoir, Carried Out as a Non-Removable Construction, Especially Swimming Pool, and Wall Element for Manufacturing It, and now abandoned.

The invention relates to a reservoir carried out as a non-removable construction, especially swimming pool, with a bottom and side-walls and provided with wallparts of plastic material with vertical ribs.

With the construction of such a reservoir difficulties can be expected, which the invention intends to avoid.

A first difficulty is, that the side-wall parts of such a reservoir will be exposed to difficultly predictable pressure forces, especially if the reservoir is placed in the soil. This holds more when the reservoir is placed in the open air in which case variation of the surface-level of underground-water, settling of the ground and such like cause very strongly variable pressures on the wall.

Moreover pressure-variations exist, if the reservoir may be as well empty as filled, which for instance with a swimming pool, even if winter-conditions are not considered, regularly will be the case in view of cleaning purposes.

If one tries for a light construction, which of course is attractive from an economical view point, it is, preferred, that each wall-element is capable to resist its own pressure-load, also because with the design of the construction it is difiicult to consider the length of the side-walls.

The invention provides a solution, enabling this purpose and maintaining a light construction. For this purpose according to the invention it is provided, that at least the wall-parts, which form the side-walls and are made out of synthetic material, are anchored at their lower sides and provided with a stiffness decreasing form bottom to top, the relatively large stiffness at the lower side being obtaining by means of ribs having at their lower side a greater height than at the upper side, the parts of the ribs having the higher height being part of the anchorage. The relatively higher rib parts at the lower side of the side-walls not only provide a greater bending-resistance to the side-wall parts at the location, where they are exposed to the largest bending momentum, but they provide at the same time the rigidness of the connection between the side-wall parts and the construction, to which they are anchored.

According to a further embodiment of the invention it 3,487,599 Patented Jan. 6, 1970 is provided, that the lower parts of the side-wall parts with the higher parts of the ribs are embedded in concrete. Performances of such a construction have shown to be good and a reliable permanent connection between the side-wall parts and the embedding concrete is obtained, though no direct surface-adhesion occurs and consequently the possibility exists, that a sealing means known per se has to be applied between the side-wall parts and the anchorage-construction.

It will be clear, that the bending momentum, to which the side-walls are exposed, has also to be resisted by the construction, to which the sidewalls have been connected. A first solution of this problem consists according to a further elaboration of the invention in that the bottom forms a rigid unit, in which the side-wall parts have been anchored. A practical embodiment of this consists in a bottom of reinforced concrete.

If, however, for cost price or other reasons a rigid bottom is not desired, it is according to a further elaboration of the invention provided, that the side-wall parts are supported by separate manufactured foundation-elements which extend at the side opposed to the reservoir beyond the ribs of the side-wall parts. Since the foundation-elements extend outside the reservoir these extensions will be loaded by a considerable groundweight, by reason of which in a relatively simple way it is secured that the variable ground pressure can be resisted. Moreover it is possible to obtain the result, that only once concrete has to be poured, in the wall parts are connected to the foundation elements by means of concrete. On the contrary if a bottom of concrete is made, this has first to be poured and to harden out at least in a considerable degree, after which the side-wall parts can be adjusted and fixed by means of complementary poured concrete.

An embodiment of the invention for transferring the overturning forces exerted on the side-wall element to the foundation exists in tension struts between the extensions of the foundation elements and the ribs. This construction has the advantage, that the foundation elements can be carried out relatively light-weighted, but the separate anchorage, which has to be corrosion-resistant to underground water in some instances may be an undesired element.

According to a further elaboration of the invention it is provided that the side-wall parts have been inserted in a groove in the foundation elements which allows adjustment in horizontal and vertical direction as well as adaptation of the angle between the foundation element and the wall part. The possibility of adjustment of the sidewall parts is especially important, when the foundation elements, at least locally, have an orientation differing from the horizontal position, e.g., at the end of a tilting bottom, as occurs in many cases with swimming pools. The obtained groove can be filled with concrete and it is possible to apply in the longitudinal direction of it a reinforcing connecting the different foundation elements solidly with each other. Another further elaboration of the invention consists in that the foundation elements are provided with a standing wall, that in combination with a side-wall part forms a gutter, that is filled with concrete. By this it is possible to deliminate in a simple way a space in which the concrete can be poured for the anchorage of the side-wall parts, whereas it is also possible to have reinforcing parts protruding from the said wall for connecting the foundation elements with the anchorage concrete in a mechanically strong way. It needs no comment that the anchorage concrete may also be provided with longitudinal reinforcings.

Especially if no mechanically strong reservoir bottom is used, it is of importance that the foundation elements cannot shift in a horizontal direction under influence of the wateror ground-pressure. To realize this it is provided according to afurther elaboration of the invention, that the lower side of the foundation elements is provided with recesses.

The invention also includes a wall element adapted for the manufacturing of a reservoir according to the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the following the invention is elucidated on hand of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section over the line II of FIG. 3 through a side-wall element with an anchorageconstruction;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-section through the same element over the line II- -II of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 shows a part of two adjacent side-wall parts;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section through a side-wall element with anchorage analogous to FIG. 2 of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a side elevation of the construction according to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a detail of the connection of the bottom plates to each other; and

FIG. 7 shows a cross-section analogous to FIG. 4 through still another embodiment of the invention.

In the following description side-wall parts of the reservoir mean the parts that constitute the vertical of nearly vertical delimitation. Preferably these parts have been mounted along the complete circumference of the reservoir, but this is not essentially for applying the invention.

In FIG. 1 with 1 a reservoir-bottom has been indicated of preferably reinforced concrete. This supports a side-wall part 2 consisting of a shell-part 3 with at its upper side a wave-gutter 4 as usual with swimming pools and at the lower side a flange 5. At mutual regular distances of egg. 40 cm., centers ribs 6 have been connected to the shell-part. These ribs consist e.g. of a core 7 of form-resistant foam-plastic on which a skin 8 of plastic has been applied, preferably glass-fiber reinforced polyester. Also the shell-part 3 consists of this plastic and the skin of the ribs form together with the shell-part 3 a unitary construction.

After adjustment of the side-wall parts a joint 9 of for instance concrete that has been made watertight by means of epoxy resin is applied at the frontside of the shell-part 3 and the sealing of the reservoir can be obtained by means of a strip 9a placed in an angle, on which epoxy resin is spread, its being established that such a layer of glass-fiber with epoxy resin adheres sealingly and permanently to as well the concrete as plastic of the polyester type. Further a beam 10 of reinforced concrete is poured, the reinforcing elements 11 of which form the connection between the bottom 1 and the beam 10'. Of course the beam 10 may also be provided with longitudinal reinforcements.

The rib has at its upper side a relatively small height, which height, however, increases between the points A and B, to remain beyond these again constant and finally to increase again between the points C and D. The height increasing part C-D is located within the concrete beam 10 and by means of this assures a further improvement of the fixation of the sidewall part 2.

Adjacent side-wall parts have been connected at their ends by means of angled flanges 12. These flanges have at their innerside V-grooves 12a, in which flexible sealing rods 12b, e.g. of artificial rubber have been applied. Herewith not only a very good scaling is obtained, but also adjacent side-wall parts may show small differences in bending deviation under influence of groundor waterpressure, without causing leakage.

With the embodiment of FIG. 4 the wall elements 2 have been inserted in a groove 13 of foundation element 14 which in the shown embodiment consists of reinforced concrete and at its lower side is provided with recesses 15 for a better adhesion in horizontal direction to the supporting soil. The foundation elements 14 extend in the direction opposite to the reservoir, consequently in FIG. 4 towards the right, beyond the side-wall parts. On these extending parts soil will rest, by reason of which groundpressure on the side-wall parts working in FIG. 4 in the left direction can be resisted in a considerable degree, if not completely.

The groove 13 has at its lower side a curved form, which facilitates the adjustment in different directions of the sidewall parts, As, however, the connection between the side-wall part 2 and the foundation element 14 extend only over a relatively small height of side-wall part 2 the possibility exists, that, with load exerted by the ground pressure in the left direction of FIG. 4, very high tensions in the lower part of side-wall part 2 will be induced. For absorbing these tensions tension struts 16 have been applied, that at 17 are anchored in the foundation elements 14 and at 18 are connected to a rib of the wall part 2. This connection is more especially visible in FIG. 5 and consists of a fork 19, both legs of which are placed to both sides of rib 6. After adjustment of wall element 2 a hole is drilled in the rib, preferably through predrilled holes in fork 19 and in these holes a pin or bolt 20 is inserted. Preferably the whole strut construction 16-20 consists of stainless steel.

According to FIG. 4 the bottom is composed of thin plates 21 of plastic material. These are connected to each other by means of a back-plate 22, to which the lower ribs 23 of plates 21 are connected by means of stainless poprivets 24 (hollow rivet that can be inserted from above and fastened by means of a special suitable tool) whereas the whole construction is sealed by a sealing strip 25, as more clearly indicated in FIG. 6. It has been shown that such a construction remains well watertight, also if it is supported by a soil surface which is not completely flat or shows small saggings.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the foundation elements 26 consist of a bottom part 27 and-an upright part 28. This upright part is provided at its upper side with a rim 29 extending towards wall part 2 whereas the reinforcing of foundation elerrient 26 locally protrudes from it (at 30). By reason of this it is possible to connect the concrete beam 31, which in other respects mainly corresponds to the concrete beam 10 of FIG. 2, strongly with the foundation elements 27. These foundation elements have advantage, that they can easily be piled in that an element turned over is placed upon an element in the shown orientation, in which case the protruding reinforcing 30 does not hinder the transport.

What is claimed is:

1. An outdoor swimming pool constructed in an excavation in the ground, said pool comprising:

(a) a plurality of preformed ribbed but otherwise nonreinforced side wall retaining panels forming an endless retaining wall;

(b) each side panel being made of resilient synthetic plastic material capable of yielding to soil pressures to a substantially greater degree than reinforced concrete;

(c? the side edges of said panels being provided with integral flanges disposed in a plane transverse to the plane of the panel,

(d) the flanges of adjacent panels abutting one another,

(e) each flange being provided with longitudinally extending recesses which match with recesses in abutting flanges to form channels,

(f) resilient sealing rod material within said channels sealing against leakage and forming the sole connecting means between abutting flanges.

(g) said panels being provided with integral stiffening ribs intermediate the side edge flanges,

(h) each of said ribs having a stepped form with the least dimension in the thickness (the dimension in the direction transverse to the plane of the panel) at the upper end of the rib, the greatest thickness at the lower end, and having at least one intermediate portion of intermediate thickness,

(i) the vertical extent of the least thickness portion of the rib being the greatest,

(j) concrete footings in which said lower portion of said ribbed panels are embedded,

(k) said concrete footings provided cantilever support for said panels and forming the sole support means for said panels, to allow said panels to yield resiliently toward the interior of the pool in response to soil pressures,

(1) said resiliently sealed abutting flanges allowing one panel to yield to a different extent than its adjacent panel in response to small difi'erences of soil pressures exerted thereagainst.

2. A swimming pool according to claim 1 characterized in that the ditference between the greatest thickness and the intermediate thickness of the rib is less than the 20 stiffening ribs are formed of form resistant foam plastic having thereon a skin of glass fiber reinforced polyester.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1908 Ray 6l49 5/ 1940 Palmer 5 2-293 12/1958 Lorimer 52l69 11/1959 Lifer 52l69 11/1962 Kwake 52169 4/ 1965 Pritzker 52293 7/1965 Rumsey 52l69 l/l966 Schneller 52l69 3/1966 Stier 52l69 5/1967 Heilig 52l69 FOREIGN PATENTS 4/1940 Great Britain. 10/ 1930 Italy.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

3 2 UNITED S'IATES PATEN'I OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 4873 9 Dated January 6, 1970 InventoflX) Wilhelmus T.M. Jansen It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent i and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

F- Claim 1, Clause (k) line 1, "provided" should reading "providing".

Claim 2, lines 4 and 5, "between the greatest thickness and the intermediate thickness of the rib is less than the difference" should be stricken.

SIGNED AND S EALEU D53 '2 4 Anew Edward M. Fletcher, 11-. WILLIAM E. eaflumm m -Altesting Officer on of Patents 

